Camera Settings and Game Controls

After playing the alpha for SotA, there are two things that stuck out to me that would make a major improvement to the controls for the game, and while I'm sure that the developers have already thought of this, there is never any harm in asking.......

1) The ability to map the controls to the keys that you want. I noticed that this is completely absent in the alpha, (unless I missed it entirely), and needs to be implemented greatly. Specifically, I want to be able to map the movement keys to different buttons, as the traditional "wasd" set up has always felt far too cramped for me, especially when playing a game that has 8 directional movement......

2) The ability to lock the camera in place with the avatar's movement. By that, I mean that I want the camera to rotate, based off of where the avatar is looking, so that the camera is always facing the direction that the player is facing. As it is, controlling the camera is awkward when you are simply walking around the town. Especially if you are attempting to use the track pad on a laptop, or a mouse on a small surface. I had less issues when I was using my wireless trackball, but it would still be much simpler to be able to lock the camera's movement to that of the player......

I'm not saying that these have to be implemented right away, as they don't stop gameplay entirely, and fixing game-breaking bugs should be the team's first order of business. I'm just asking that these be implemented down the line if they weren't planned already......

 

I would prefer that it were like an FPS where mouse = targeting + facing + camera with no need for buttons. But I actually think what they have now is adequate, other than inventory which feels very clumsy.

 

In release 1 you can use your mouse to look around - up, down, right, left, backwards - but ONLY IF you are standing still. That's annoyingly limiting - especially once one gets out into the wilderness and dangerous areas. We should be able to move holding down keys to move and be able to look around, independently of the direction in which we are moving, all the time. We should also be able to spin around - if, say, attacked from behind, or just to reverse course. Let "a" = turn to the left and "d" = turn to the right, such that if you hold down those keys you keep on turning, round and round. Let "e" = move right while still facing forward, "q" = move left while still facing forward. "a" and "d" could then be used to spin around, in either direction, while "e" and "q" would be useful to avoid obstacles, arrows and spells when fighting. The "s" key should make us walk backwards - very handy in fighting - and again "e" and "q" would be useful in dodging obstacles, objects and spells.

Also in release 1 we can't jump which is essential - hitting the space bar (with left thumb) can serve just fine for that. Holding down any direction key, and thus moving, while hitting the space bar would make you jump in that direction.

It would also be nice to be able to choose between walking (say around town) and running (whenever you are in a hurry). Games where everyone runs all the time are worlds of frantic, hyper individuals. Whether walking or running we should be able to hit some key, say Num Lock, that would keep us moving in the same way, in the same direction until we hit ANY other key. Would give us a chance to stretch to free our hands, flex our fingers, take a drink, while still moving where ever you are headed. I don't like being forced to run all the time. Some of the best times I had in 12 years in UO were walking along calmly chatting with a friend, or sitting on his front porch near the sea, chatting and listening to the waves crash on the shore.

Given that objects have weight, I assume that there will eventually be a relationship between how much weight you are carrying and how fast you wear out, e.g., health goes down, and upper limits on how much you can carry according to your strength. Something similar should happen with walking and running - you wear out faster running than walking.

 

It took be about a whole 2 seconds to get adjusted to the look and move system, but as a game I don't really feel that I should even be judging the GUI at this point because there are so few of other elements implemented let alone even designed yet.

I could start a huge list of things I want or could be relevant but I don't think there is a point in doing that but I will say that I'm just not really impressed.

There is no real innovative GUI features yet and there isn't really any old school game GUI elements either. It just seems really roughed in there with no real time spent to tweak it...

Things I want as far as game controls ... well we don't even have the basic abilities yet let alone stuff like emotes or crafting and jumping etc...

 

I get that it's the rough version and not everything has been implemented, (at least that's what I think you're trying to say?), but the point is that we have to tell the developers what we think of the current system and what we want in the future, even at this early of a stage, in order for them to begin making changes during the whole process. If we wait to tell them that we would prefer different camera controls once the game is completed, then it'll be too late for them to change the fundamental function of the entire system......

 

I agree on both points duly, key mapping

I however question those who are asking for a FPS-style interface whether that is really appropriate? I am a big fan of the style but how much time are we going to spend strafing enemies?
It seems like there may be a lot of time spent crafting and in towns so I don't see how that would help in that respect.

 

It'd be cool if you could fix the camera in a 3rd person position and play it from the traditional Ultima 6/7/8 perspective. Then of course you'd have to deal with making obscuring layers transparent/translucent.